Boston Bruins: Foolish enough to only give Charlie McAvoy one year?

Surely the Boston Bruins wouldn’t be foolhardy enough to only offer restricted free agent defenseman, Charlie McAvoy a one-year deal? Or would it be a stroke of genius?

Safe to say this has been a summer of change within the NHL. Never before have we seen so many restricted free agents waiting so late to sign new deals. Last season, William Nylander held out until the very last minute, before that Andreas Athanasiou was once a summer hold-out, but this year we’re seeing hold-outs en masse; not least with the Boston Bruins pairing of Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo.

Now, maybe it’s being exaggerated; we are, after all, only in mid-August and as yet it’s not a case of players missing training camp. In fact, such a possibility would still be over a month away.

To give Charlie McAvoy just one year is essentially telling the player to prove just how much he can be worth. It could be a move that backfires royally on Boston; McAvoy could come out blazing and end up costing upwards of $8 million rather than the $7.6 million he’s currently predicted at, at least by Evolving Wild, for a full eight-year term.

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Using their prediction calculator, the Boston Bruins could potentially bridge Charlie McAvoy for the single season on a $5.2 million deal, thus enabling them to have the cap space required to secure Brandon Carlo to longer-term.

Not only that, it gives them more time to assess McAvoy’s long-term health, especially given he has yet to complete a full 82-game NHL season. His first full year with the Boston Bruins saw him play 63 regular season games and a further 12 in the play-offs. Last year, he managed just 54 regular season games but backed up with 23 playoff appearances.

Boston Bruins President, Cam Neely has spoken openly about his concern that a player that has just two NHL seasons under his belt has already shown propensity for injury. In an interview with NBC Sports Boston’s Joe Haggerty, he openly suggested a bridge deal is the best option for Charlie McAvoy.

Whether the Boston Bruins truly pursue this avenue or realise that in Charlie McAvoy, they have a potential number-one defenseman for years to come and thus try to secure him long-term; we shall have to wait and see.

At around $5 million on a possible one-year deal, maybe he’s an absolute bargain deal that the team would be foolish to ignore. Or maybe at that price, he turns around and pulls out the season of all seasons; a win for the Bruins, but long-term severely damaging to the future salary cap.

Only time will tell where this goes between the Boston Bruins and Charlie McAvoy.